


Salvation of Sons

by containedmultitudes



Series: Just Like You [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-05-03
Updated: 2007-05-03
Packaged: 2018-01-21 19:29:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1561442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/containedmultitudes/pseuds/containedmultitudes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lucius and Draco try to teach Scorpius to be different from them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Salvation of Sons

**Author's Note:**

> This is a companion piece to [Just Like You](http://community.livejournal.com/annettefanfic/25332.html?view=78324#t78324). Feedback is not required but is always welcome.

Title: Salvation of Sons  
Author:[](http://sapphiretragedy.livejournal.com/profile) **[sapphiretragedy](http://sapphiretragedy.livejournal.com/)/diggingupophelia/containtedmultitudes**  
Rating: G/PG  
Characters: Lucius, Scorpius, Draco, mentions of Harry and Albus Severus  
Summary: Lucius and Draco try to teach Scorpius to be different from them.  
Spoilers: For DH.  
Notes: Set after 'Just Like You' 

Set just after: [Just Like You](http://community.livejournal.com/annettefanfic/25332.html?view=78324#t78324)

 

*

 

**Salvation of Sons**

 

Draco eyed his father suspiciously. He was hiding something. What remained to be discovered; but there was definitely something to discover. Draco wasn't sure if he was in the mood for it or not - he'd had another "discussion" with Potter today and ... just thinking about it made his head twinge.

"Out with it," Draco said, pouring rather large amounts of brandy into two snifters. He handed one to his father.

Lucius drank deeply from his glass before he even acknowledged Draco had spoken. "Out with what?" he asked. He had after all promised Scorpius. And the whole business of the discussion had been sorted. Scorpius had declared Lucius the best grandfather ever when he'd opened his Tiny Tot Potions Set an hour ago. As far as Lucius was concerned all was well.

Draco sat down and sighed. "Father, I'm really not in the mood. Potter wants his merry band of Aurors to come and search the Manor - again - for Dark artifacts and books and probably to throw me into Azkaban for good measure." Draco pinched the bridge of his nose. "Make sure you hide that wand. You're not supposed to have one for another three months."

Lucius nodded. "I know, Draco." He glared at his son, peeved that he was being treated like an errant teenager who had started Apparating before his seventeenth birthday. "I'm not entirely stupid."

"I never said you were," Draco retorted. He sounded tired. "Scorpius is over the moon with that Potions Set. It makes me think of Severus though."

"Indeed. I do miss him - especially working him up to a good rant about Potter. Always good for a laugh."

There was a comfortable moment of silence as Severus was remembered. But then an uncomfortable shifting as they recalled the events that led up to their esteemed friend's untimely, unheroic, pathetic death. Draco cleared his throat. "I'll ask you again: What's going on with you?"

"Nothing," Lucius lied.

"Father," Draco said, his tone warning.

Lucius set down his glass, now empty of all liquid. "Scorpius heard you talking to Potter over the Floo. I presume it was today."

Draco's eyes grew wide. "Are you sure? I made sure Scorpius wasn't there. I double checked the locks and under the desk."

"He heard," Lucius said, remembering his tiny grandson sporting a rather abstract Dark Mark on his tiny arm.

Draco felt his mouth run dry. "How do you know?"

"Well, he dumped about two pots worth of back ink onto his arm, fashioned it into a Dark Mark, held it out to me and told me he wanted to be a Death Eater just like me, for starters," Lucius said exhaling heavily. "But you can't say a word to him. I promised I wouldn't tell."

Draco jumped up from his seat. "What did you tell him?" He put his hand to his chin. "It couldn't have been anything bad or he wouldn't have even opened the gift from you and Mother so ... you lied? That's worse!"

"Draco, we've already covered this: I'm not stupid. I told him half truths. Just enough to satisfy his interest. But," Lucius said, holding his arms open, "this gives us a chance to decide what we're going to tell him."

"We're not going to tell him anything. We agreed. Potter's had our names stricken from the record - like his. Scorpius never has to know."

Lucius quirked an eyebrow at his son. Stricken from the record? That sounded odd to him. "Why would Potter do that?"

"To protect Scorpius. And I invoked Severus's name ... it's a favor to Severus. I figured after he had the portrait put in the Headmaster's office and named his son after him that he might be sympathetic. I was right."

"He'll find out, Draco. It's best to tell him."

Draco fell back into his chair. "I hate it when you're right. And now I've agreed to let Potter stomp through my house for no reason. Bloody hell. I am an idiot."

"No," Lucius said, perhaps too quickly.

"Well we'll tell him ... tell him," Draco struggled. "Well we cannot tell him what you told me."

Lucius winced at the memory. "Well, the anti-Muggle stance was very much in vogue when you were fourteen," he said, attempting humor. Draco didn't find his joke funny. Lucius looked appropriately abashed and continued. "I honestly believed those things. But mostly I wanted the power. He promised great power to come to those who followed him. I was weak."

Draco nodded. "I did what I had to do to save you. Mother didn't want me to. She wanted to go into hiding. But Aunt Bellatrix -"

"Do not mention that woman's name," Lucius barked. She was never spoken of, especially where Narcissa could hear - it was too difficult. "Yes, my mistakes forced you to make your own. But then you didn't stay to defend Hogwarts. You stayed for your own gain."

"I ... the school was far safer." Draco's head began to twinge more when he realized his son would think he was a coward.

"I told him we were special; the only two Death Eaters left."

"Did you tell him that we turned on everyone we knew to protect ourselves?" Draco spat. He still hated that his friends - Goyle and Pansy, especially - were in Azkaban because of him.

"What's done is done," Lucius said. "I simply want to know what to say to Scorpius. I don't want him to end up hating me."

"Well, I don't want him to hate me either," Draco said. "Right - Granger's written a book, sorry Weasley the 900th has written a book, about this very subject for school children. It's objective and very sympathetic to the Merciful Death Eaters of the Eleventh Hour," Draco grimmaced as he spoke. "That's the chapter that discusses our family; sans Bellatrix. She's not treated very fairly," Draco added, dryly.

"Stay on point, Draco."

Draco groaned. "I wish I were Potter right now. I wish I could walk up to my son and say that I killed Voldemort; that I was a hero."

Lucius made a throaty noise that he means to be sympathetic. Instead he sounded like he's just burped. "Don't be ridiculous. _Your_ wand killed Voldemort if not your hand."

Draco brightened considerably. "It did. All the glory without the fuss. I like that. It's neat, simple and makes me special."

"Us," Lucius reminded.

"So we tell him a sanitized version of the truth. No blood or guts. Just glimpses at the ugliness of it. I don't want him running around playing Death Eater thinking it's a cool game."

"Agreed."

"I think," Draco hesitated, "I think I should call Potter. See if he'll allow his children to play with Scorpius. He doesn't have any friends and he might as well start making some of the right sort."

"Are you mad? No. Wait until they go to Hogwarts and let the children sort it out. I just hope he's not an arrogant little swot like you."

"You groomed me to be that way," Draco said, accusingly. "But, I've learned from your mistakes."

"I should hope so," Lucius said. "Do you hate me for what I did?"

Draco leaned back in the chair. "I did. When I was standing there and Dumbledore was disarmed and I was trying to kill him ... and Severus did it and I saw a man die for the first time ... oh, how I hated you." He got up and sighed. "But then ... then you were so broken when you came home; gaunt and dirty and you never looked me in the eye and I hated _him_ \- Potter - because he got you locked up." Draco stopped talking for a moment. "I don't want that for Scorpius," he said, quietly.

"No one does, son. No one." He looked up at Draco. "I'm sorry."

Draco smiled sadly and shrugged. "It's done."

"We'll tell him the entire truth - blood, Dark curse, and horrific screams - just before he goes to Hogwarts. Others will know and we must tell him."

Draco nodded. "I hate that my choices are going to rob him of his innocence."

 

*

Scorpius watched from the landing as the man named Potter traipsed through his house, going from room to room and yelling at his father a lot. Scorpius decided that he didn't like that man - he had also been very rude to Grandfather. Scorpius watched his grandfather climb the stairs, pressing his lips together all the while. This meant Grandfather was angry. "Grandfather," Scorpius whispers, "is that man here because I pretended to be a Death Eater?"

Lucius scooped his grandson into his arms. "No. That man, Mr. Potter, is here because your father and I used to be Death Eaters. Remember what we talked about?"

Scorpius nodded. He'd been both amused and horrified at the things he'd been told. "Are they going to take you to Azkban?" he asked, worried.

"No," Lucius said. "It's nothing to worry about."

"But Mr. Potter is yelling. A lot. He doesn't seem to like you or Father very much at all." Scorpius sighed. "I don't like him either."

Lucius sighed. There was no need to spout off rhetoric about the Wretched House of Potter. No, Scorpius needed to get friendly with those children when he went to Hogwarts. So, Lucius set to building bridges. "Oh, it's not fair to judge him based on his yelling." Lucius set Scorpius down and took him by the hand. He led the boy into the family's upstairs parlor and set him down on the settee. Lucius ordered tea from an over anxious elf and then turned back to his grandson. " Your father and I yell - sometimes at you - does that mean you don't like us?"

Scorpius stared down at his clasped hands. "No," he replied, albeit grudgingly. "But he's _always_ yelling at Father!"

"He and your father never got off to a good start," Lucius offered. "But, the Potters are not a bad sort at all. When you go to school you should do your best to befriend the Potters. They're very good friends to have."

"Did you have friends that were Potters?"

Lucius gave a small smile. "No. There weren't any Potters in my year. And, when I went to school the Houses didn't mix. It's not the case now. Now you can be a - Ravenclaw, for example - and have nine Gryffindor friends, two Hufflepuff friends, and even a Slyhterin for a friend. And nobody says a word."

Scorpius squirmed in his seat. He found it very difficult to sit still. The elf reappeared with tea for Grandfather and pumpkin juice for him. Scorpius couldn't talk while he was drinking, it took a lot of concentration to keep from spilling the orange liquid onto his lap. When he was done he handed the goblet to his Grandfather and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Are you and Father sure I'm going to be a Ravenclaw?" This was a question Scorpius liked to ask a lot. Ever since he had learned about Houses from his Father's battered copy of _Hogwarts, A History_ and his Father had expressed his hope to see his only son put into Ravenclaw rather than Slytherin.

Lucius sighed. He hated this game. He could spend hours reassuring Scorpius only to have him ask again half an hour after the conversation was over. "No one can be sure where the Sorting Hat is going to place you. We've been over this."

"I know. But, I really don't want Father to be mad at me." Scorpius began to scratch at a scab on he back of his hand. Lucius grabbed his hand away.

"Listen, Scorpius. Your father is not going to be upset with you. You cannot choose which House you go into, simple. And I'm afraid history might be working against you," Lucius sighed. He hoped Draco wouldn't be upset with this new tactic. The truth was a dangerous beast if used by the wrong people. "In order to make your father proud all you need to do is get good marks - not even top marks, though that would be nice - and stay out of trouble. And don't forget you have still got years before you need to worry about Houses at all."

Scorpius seemed to relax at that. He sat quietly for a moment and then turned to Lucius. "I still don't understand why you and Father were so mean to Muggles," Scorpius said. "Mum takes me to Muggle London sometimes and the Muggles seem nice. And they have jelly babies." To Scorpius, jelly babies were the height of human invention. He would live on jelly babies alone if he were allowed.

Lucius laughed. "Yes, well, your father and I didn't know about jelly babies," he said. "Though, I don't know why I thought it was a good idea to be mean to Muggles. And your father did what I told him."

"Would you tell me to be mean to Muggles?" Scorpius asked, worry heavy in his voice.

"No. Nor anyone else," Lucius said sincerely.

Scorpius though was done with the conversation. "Can I go play now?" he asked, jumping from the couch before he was excused. "I want to try my Giggling Solution on an elf!"

"Don't feed the elves your potions, Scorpius. You might poison them accidentally. And do not give any more of them clothes. It cost a fortune to replace the last four," Lucius warned.

"I already said I was sorry," Scorpius said. "I didn't know that play clothes counted."

"Indeed. Run along."

 

*

Draco found Lucius in his study deeply engrossed in a book. He cleared his throat to get his Father's attention and was rewarded with a surreptitious glance over the top of his book. "Father," Draco greeted.

Lucius nodded. He finished reading and closed the book gently before setting it aside. "Did Potter find anything?"

Draco smirked. "No. He was quite put out at the fact, too. He's coming back unannounced next time. He thinks he'll catch us doing something Dark and illegal."

"Don't get too cocky, Draco. We'll need to be exceedingly cautious." He reached into his robes and removed his wand. He offered it to Draco. "Hold on to this until I"m supposed to have it. I'll use the elves."

Draco pocketed the wand. "Well, Scorpius is planning the best way to befriend a Potter, or - a Weasley," Draco said. "He's got diagrams and maps and everything." Draco was amused at his son's ambition. "Though, his plans depend on his being Sorted into Gryffindor at the moment."

Lucius snorted. "A Malfoy in Gryffindor. The very notion of plotting a friendship is very Slytherin indeed. I hope he won't be disappointed."

"I tried to explain to him that attempting to learn bravery was not the same thing as actually being brave," Draco smiled. "I wish Mother had never started reading him that book. It's caused a whole heap of problems I thought I wouldn't have to deal with until he was nine at least."

"Potter's visit upset him. Nearly turned him off to all things Potter due to the yelling."

"He seemed all right when I spoke with him. He wants to do research on Albus Severus - so he can like the same things and start building a common ground. So, he must not be too put off."

"Did you explain to him about stalking?" Lucius asked.

"Yes. Though he wants to run his plans by you. I trust you'll discourage him. He seems to think you know more than me."

"A very intelligent boy; he might wind up in Ravenclaw yet."

"I don't see how he's going to end up anywhere but Slytherin. He's not curious about knowledge; just wants what's useful. He's far to interested in protecting his own interests - he tried to tell me that an elf drank the Giggling Solution on his own. I watched him coax the terrified thing into it."

"You let him do it?" Lucius asked furiously. "You know how difficult it is -"

"Relax. I made the brew with him. He's four and hasn't learned to read more than his name yet. How do you think he's managed to use that Potion's set to begin with?"

"Right," Lucius said feeling foolish. "What's he trying to like to befriend the Potter boy? And how did he find this information out?"

"Well, he cornered Potter on his way out of the house," Draco smiled. "Potter was very nice to him. Answered two questions before he thought I was up to something. It's why Potter's determined to return."

"No doubt he thinks you're plotting," Lucius agreed. "I'll talk to Scorpius - nip his criminal tendencies in the bud. Stalking a Potter - if only you had been so resourceful."

 

*

Scorpius threw aside another piece of parchment. He pulled another one - equally full of scribbles and drawings that had meaning only for Scorpius - and studied it. "See, Grandfather," he said, pointing to a triangle with a squiggly line protruding from its top, "this is how I'm going to get Sorted into Gryffindor. I'll keep thinking about all the brave and courageous things I've done and," he paused, "then it'll be easy to be Albus Severus Potter's friend."

Lucius took the parchment from his grandson's hand. "Well," he said, pretending to study the parchment, "you've failed to take some things into account."

Scorpius scratched the top of his head and poked his tongue out of the corner of his mouth. "Like what? Father said I had all my, er, variables in order." Scorpius was trying very hard to sound adult like and professional, just like his Father and Grandfather when they had serious conversations. This was indeed a serious conversation. He was plotting out his future.

"Well, the Hat can tell if you're lying," Lucius said. He didn't know if that was true or not - but neither did Scorpius. Misinformation was not the same as lying, not really.

"But it won't be lying. I'll really do brave things!" Scorpius argued. "Like I climbed to the high shelf to get Grandmother's hair combs." Scorpius disliked heights that didn't involve a broom.

"Bravery isn't planned," Lucius said, softly. He really hated that he had to be the one to ruin his grandson's ambitions. "It just happens."

Scorpius then grabbed the parchment from his Grandfather's hand and crumpled it. "Well, what about learning about all the things Albus Severus likes?" He retrieved another parchment. "Chudley Cannons are top on the list. Though I don't understand why. I think it's because his Uncle Ron likes them. Mr. Potter told me that. And oh! He likes to play Aurors. I want to learn all about Aurors."

To Lucius, having his grandson want to become an Auror was slightly less worse than becoming a Death Eater. Only slightly. "About that - your Father was right. You can't just go around liking things because other people do. You have to trust that people will like you for who you are and what you like."

"But Mr. Potter didn't shake Dad's hand. I want a friend. A real wizard not just the elves." Scorpius sounded dejected and as though he were about to break down sobbing.

"Scorpius, you are not your Father. You just have to be yourself. That's one thing I never taught your Father and the reason Potter didn't like him." Though Lucius suspected Potter loathed his son because he was acting like himself.

"Well if this plan won't work will you help me make another one?"

"Yes. Let's start by finding some jelly babies."

"Jelly babies?" Scorpius asked, perplexed. He knew his Grandfather didn't understand why he liked the sweet. "How will they help?"

Lucius held out his hand. "Just trust me. I'm smart."

Scorpius smiled up at his Grandfather. "You are smart. I know I promised I wouldn't be just like you but ... I want to be. Smart. Just like you."

"Ok. You can be smart - smart is good."

 

*

Fin

 

 

 


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